Door-operating device



Sept 7 1926.

M. W. HAWKS v D ooE OPERATING DEVICE Filed May 15, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORN E Y.

Patented Sept. 7, 1926.

- UNITED STATES PATENT 'd OFF-ICE,

MILEs W; nnwxs, or HAvn'svrLLn, omo.

Doon-ornnnrmefnnvron. i

.Appneaon me@ May 15,1926. semina. 109,363.

This invention relates to closure operators and pertainsfparticularly to a device for opening and closing the doors of buildings such as garages, barns, or other structures having sliding doors. v v The primaryobject offthis invention is the provision, in a'manner as hereinafter sety forth, of a structure designed to enable one' to easily and quickly cause one or a pair` of sliding doors to move in such a mannerV as to 'uncover or cover an entrance open y ing automatically operating means for catching and holding the doors in their opened or closed position; l

Another and final object of the invention is the provision, in a manner as hereinafter' set forth, of a closure manipulating mecha-y nism of simple, strong and durable design -with respect to the portion 8 and at the point constructed to withstand exposure to the elements without injury, easy to manipulate.

and comparatively,inexpensive to manufacture and install. Y

The invention `will be best understood from acon'sideration ofl the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specicatioinwith the understanding that the invention is not confined to anyT strict conformity with the showing of the drawings butmay be changed Vand modified tionhaving sliding doors and provided with so 'long as such" changes and `modifications Y mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims. p A

In the drawings Figure, 1 shows a building in front eleva- .the mechansni embodyng this invention.

Figure 2 is a verticalsectionalview taken uponthe line 2 2 o f Figure 1. l

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view .taken von the line 83 of Figure land,

l Figure 4 is a section taken'upon the line of Figure 1. Referring now Figure t.

`to the drawings in detail; wherein like numerals of reference indicate. corresponding parts ,throughout the severall views,y the front wall of la building such as a barn or garageis indicated bythe numeral 1. The usual entrance opening 2 isv formed `through this wall and this entrance is closed vunder normal conditions, by the pair of door Vstructures 3, the innerl longitudinal edges'ofl which are infabutting relation when the entrance is closed. Y

Secured centrallyto the frontl wall 1 above the doors 3 is a vertically arranged elongated block or plate 4. Upon each side of Y the block 4, extending parallel ftherewith and.

in spacedrelation therewith is an elongated guide bridge 5 the endsy 6 of which are secured to the face ofthe wallv 1 adjacent the ends of the block 4:. UAs is clearly shown in Figure 2 these bridges 5 lextend a substantial distance forwardly ofthe forward facev of the block 4. v y

Y Pivotally secured to each side of the block t is a latch member indicated generally by the numeral 7. -Each of these latch mem' bers comprises. a lower'freeportion 8, the upper obtusel'y angled portion 9 and the terminal stopportion-10 which extends outlwardly substantially at right angles to the portion 9. The portion 9 is obtusely angled of joinder of these two portions, the pivot member 11 extends through the device into the side of thesupporting block 4. The

shown in Figure t the-width of the two por-AV tions 8 and 9` is substantially the same as the width ofthe side of the block 4; to

which the latch is Iiixed, `thus causing the finger 1-2 to project beyond therfront faceV of the block et, at all times., The stop portion 10 of each latch also extendsa substan-y tial distancebeyond thelface of the supporting blockA l as is also clearly shown in `Pivotally mounted upon `each of the cor' Aner posts 13 of thebui'lding structure,gby rkmeansof `the supporting pivot bolts 14 isa swinging .tracljarm 15. Each ofthe arms, as shown, 1s plvoted-at its outer end and from this pivoted outerV end each arm tapers vtowardits inner end, which inner ends are extended beneath the Vbridges 5 and overlie in spaced end opposed relation, the block, 4c.

As is shown in Figure 1, the arms 15 are so formed lthat when (they are in the horizontalvposition lshown with the lower e lges resting upon the lower part of an adjacent bridge structure 5, the top edge of each arm inclines downwardly from the outer pivotal point to the inner end thereof, the

lower edge of each arm being substantially horizontal. l

Each of the arms 1.5 has extending from the pivoted end thereof the outwardly and upwardly Vextending ycounter weight arms 16, these counter iif'feight arms being relatively v ,shoutas shown :and forming an obtuse angle.l

with respect to tlie 4adjacent track arm.

lia-ch of .the doors 8 has extending upwardly iroin the top thereof `the supportingv straps 17, the upper ends oiA which 'straps are turned back upon themselves spaced relation to the body and Ahave pivotally secured between the :back .turned portion Vand the :body thereof the grooved supporting rollers 18. These -grooved supporting rollers 18 rest upon .the .top yedge of the ladjacent track arm 15 and slidably support the doors upon these 'track arms. As :is shown, one of the supporting straps 17 is of slightly greater length than .the other strap of the same door, .to .compensate for lthe inclination 'of the supporting edge of the track arm from which .the door is suspended, thus insuring' the level positioning ol the doors. s

Secured in super-posed rel-ation in the lace of the liront wall 1 of the building, directly .above and upon the longitudinal -center ot the block l, is a pair of Mounted upon the face of the wall 1 between the supporting eyes'19 is a bracket 2O carrying a pulley roller 21,.

Engaged lthe eyes 19, are the dow-n` .turned ends 22 ot supporting arms 23,

which arms extend .outwardly and V*downwardlyfroin the face of the building 'and are joined together at their outer ends by the yoke 2l in which yoke a pulley member 25 is oivotall'. mounted.

Engaged through the apertures 26 Jformed in the inner free `end of the track arms 15 are short ropes or cables 27 which Yare joined at their upper ends asat 28, to one end voit a pull .cable rlhis pull cable extends upwardly over the pulley 21 and outwardly Y between the arni-s 23 to yand over the pulley 25 carried at thelorward outer end of ythe arms. hand grip 3"@ is carri-ed rat the tree outer end of the pull cable 29.

In operating the mechanism embodying this invention, when it is desired to open the doors, the pull cable 29 is grasped at the free `outer end 30 and pulled downwardly.

vThis pull of the cable vraises the tree inner ends of the track arms 15, assisted by the counter weights 16 at the 4outer ends'of the arms. The upward inclination of the track Varms 15, in the position indicated in dotted .lines in Figure 1, will cause the doors 3` to move by gravity 'apartandtoward the side supporting eyes 19..

VVagainst the an-e'led portions 9 and strike the .extension 10 of the latch member Vcausii'ig the latch to swing upon the pivot 1l until,

Y by overbalancing the upper end oli the latch,

:the portion 9 will' fall back-against the wall i and remain in this position until the arms drop past the lin-ger i2, after passing the l lnger 1L the arms will striliethe outwardly projected poi-tion 8 and again Overbalance the latch, swinging it to the posi-tion shown in Figure d. lt will be readily'seen that when the ltrack `arms are ydropped to the position shown in tull lines -inigu-rel,

after the doors have been'in open pos'iti'oin'f the inner supporting pulley of each Vdoor will fall a considerable distance beneath the level of the outer supporting pulley as the outer support-ing lpulley is raised upon the counter weight portions 16 of the arms. This will cause gravitational force to Aact upon the doo-rs and cause them 'to move inwardly to the closed position shown.

F rom the foregoing descrip-tion it will be readily seen that ya very serviceable, simple Y and efficient door closing mechanism has been constructed which can be operated with little ell'ort and is absolutely positive in its action.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. A sliding door loperating ymechanism,

comprising a track rail arm adaptedl tobe pivot-ally secured at one end, an obtuse-ly angled, upwardly inclined counter-weight arm extending from said pivoted end, a guide bridge overlying 'the Yfree Aend of said rail arm, pivoted latch means mounted adjacent said bridge and adapted to enga-ge the tree end of said rail arm when raised, to hold the same in raised position, and roller door supporting elements mounted to move along said arm by gravity when the arm Vis raised, one of said elements running" onto said inclined arm andH acting to stai-t the door to close. the Vsame when the track' arm is lowered..

y 2. A door closure mechanism, comprising a pair of end opposed' aligned track .arms each pivotally vmountedat its `outer rend, a guide bridge loverlying the inner end of .each

arm, roller door supporting elements mounted .to move .along each arm, means attached tothe inner end of each arm for .raising the same, and a latch member pivotally mounted upon the inner side of each bridge behind each arm and adapted to "engageand hold said arm in raised position.

3. A door closure` mechanism, comprising a pair of end opposed aligned track arms each pivotally mounted atits outer end, a guide bridge overlying the inner end of each arm, roller door supporting elements mounted to move along keach arm, means attached to the inner end of each arm for raising the same, and a latch member pivotally mount` ed upon the inner side of each bridge behind each arm and adapted to engage and hold said arm in raised position, said arms when raised to the proper point acting upon said latch members to release the same to allow the arms to. be lowered. v

4. A door closure mechanism, comprising a pair of end opposed aligned ltrack arms Veach pivotally Vmounted at its outer end, a

guide bridge overlying the inner end of each arm, roller do'orsupporting elements mounted to move along each arm, means attached to the inner end of each arm for raising the same, a latch member pivotally mountedV upon the inner side of each bridge behind each arm and adapted to engage` and hold said arm in raised position, anda counter- Weight arm extending at an angle from the arms raising upon the loweringof the track ture hereto.

MiLEs Lw. Hawks.

arms, to start the closing movement of the i door supporting elements.

l In testimony whereof, Iafyx my "signa-` 35 f 

